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Rob Cesternino welcomes everybody back to this week’s edition of Rob Has a Podcast which features a double Survivor interview with Laura Morett and Ciera Eastin from “Survivor: Blood vs. Water.” Later, Rob is joined by Nicole Cesternino to listen to your voicemails and discuss what the Survivors are saying on social media.
Interview with Laura Morett & Ciera Eastin
Rob welcomes mother and daughter, Laura and Ciera to the show to talk about a crazy week where the tribes merged.
Laura and Ciera say they are doing well, and Laura has finally forgiven Ciera for voting her out. Laura thinks Spencer and Tony are the only ones who seem to know what is going on. Ciera was excited to finally see a dramatic tribal council. Both of the Moretts say Kass made an awful move flipping. Laura gives props to Trish for not needing to be the “queen bee,” unlike Sarah and Kass. Ciera thinks Kass dropped down to 6th place and reacted emotionally and due to the ego of wanting to make a big move. While they acknowledge that there may be things that viewers didn’t see about the relationships Kass had, but they think she should have stifled her paranoia for a few more weeks to maintain her numbers.
Rob asks Laura to talk about the similarities when she got voted out in “Survivor: Samoa.” Russell came to Laura first to flip, and then he went to Monica Padilla. John Fincher was the third person he went to, and he eventually flipped instead of going to rocks. And then John was the next person joining Laura at Ponderosa. Laura doesn’t think Kass will be voted out soon, because now everyone wants to take her to the end because her former tribe now hates her. Rob thinks the idea of Kass as an ideal goat is an interesting theory. Ciera has a different opinion, because people have a hard time trusting someone who flips. Laura says in her season, Natalie White was the goat but she owned it as her strategy in her final tribal speech. They say in order for Kass to survive, she will need to ingratiate herself to the men on the other side, asking them for guidance and help– but Rob and the Moretts don’t think it is in her nature to do this.
Rob asks Laura if Tony Vlachos reminds her of Russell Hantz. She doesn’t see any similarities at all beyond the tattoos. She says Tony is a way better player than Russell because he is not trying to be mean. Ciera says Russell never plays to win, but Tony is playing to win. Laura is not upset with Tony for swearing on his badge, because it’s a game and he is playing strategically. Ciera points out that Tony is kind and joking with people– his tribemates like to be around him, unlike Russell. Ciera also compares him to Tyson Apostol, the winner of her season, because he was always aware of his relationships with the people who would be on the jury– and she thinks Tony formed a bond with Sarah. Rob points out that we still don’t know how Tony will treat the remaining people on their way out of the game.
They also talk about the reaction at tribal council when several players started clapping to see see Sarah Lacina voted out. Laura says Russell also clapped when she was voted out. Ciera says on a Redemption Island it would be very stupid to clap, as the person could be coming back in the game. Rob asks Laura if Kass reminds her of Shambo, and Laura noticed the similarity this week. Kass seems to be an emotional player like Shambo, and as an older player she is getting frustrated that others are not listening to her.
While Laura would be surprised if Kass won the game, she does have positive feelings about Trish’s chances. She thinks she’s observant and trusted by her tribemates, but her downfall could be her aggressive nature. Ciera didn’t like how Trish acted when Lindsey Ogle quit the game, but Laura gives Trish credit for helping to contribute to her leaving the game. Laura takes issue with Lindsey saying she was a strong person for leaving the game, because a strong person would have learned to resolve the issue. Laura also describes how she credits Kat Edorsson for being the reason that Colton Cumbie ultimately quit on Blood vs. Water.
Next Rob asks Ciera about playing with a professional athlete, Brad Culpepper, and if there were any similarities to how the tribemates gravitated toward Cliff Robinson. Laura says there is no comparison between Cliff’s name recognition and Brad’s, but she thinks Cliff could have benefitted from stepping up as more of a leader like Brad did. She said she didn’t see Cliff strategizing even once.
Both Laura and Ciera adore Spencer Bledsoe. Laura likes how he is good at challenges, he’s smart, and no one has a bad word to say about him. Ciera likes how he knows how to hold his tongue and lay low. They think he might need to try to pull in the Beauties, by using his connection with Jeremiah to connect with LJ and Jefra. Ciera didn’t think it was a bad thing that Spencer was vocal after Kass flipped at the vote. Laura gives kudos to Jefra for calling out Kass and thanking her. Ciera likes Jefra as a person, but doesn’t see her doing anything strategy-wise. Laura thinks Jefra is fine sitting back if other people are making the moves for her. Rob and the Moretts feel nobody had any idea that Jefra was going to be a target, which is why it would’ve been a great move if Kass hadn’t flipped.
They also talk about Woo’s toe shoes that he wore in the immunity challenge, and whether or not that was fair. Laura says it was smart of him to bring those shoes along with him. The also talk about the word “bully,” and the evolution of “Survivor” tribal councils. Laura and Ciera talk about how now it is really common for things to change at tribal council, and Jeff Probst as a big influence on this. Ciera also points out that this is why it was very short-sighted for J’Tia to dump out the rice. Rob thinks the game will continue to move at a faster and faster speed, since the players on “Survivor: Cagayan” hadn’t even seen “Blood vs. Water,” when players like Hayden Moss made moves at tribal council. They also address swing votes and the terms “cute” and “hot.” Ciera also talks about how she was impressed when Morgan recovered from her idol lie, and is doing well at the “anybody but me” strategy. However, Laura and Ciera think she needs to forge her own path.
Laura also addresses “Survivor: Samoa” again, but saying that everyone (besides John and Shambo) were going to vote for Mick Trimming but he didn’t bring it home at tribal council, and Natalie White really sold it in her final tribal speech, but that viewers didn’t get to see all of it. They also talk about how Trish can build her “Survivor” resume, Tyson Apostol’s funny antics and kindness, and how the Immunity Idol impacted their voting strategies during their seasons. They also answer Stephen Fishbach’s question of whether it’s harder to vote out a fellow cop or your mother, and Rob’s questions of whether the former castaways are too nasty on social media. Ciera (@cieraeastin) doesn’t think so, but Laura (@lauramorett) thinks there are some people who are still clinging to their 15 minutes of fame.
Listener Voicemails and Survivor Social Media with Nicole Cesternino
Back by popular demand, the First Lady of Podcasting (FLOP) Nicole is pumped and ready to listen to voicemails and dish on social media. Rob and Nicole answer questions from Rob Has a Planet listeners on a wide variety of subjects. They talk about whether anyone will be upset with LJ or Tony for not disclosing that they had Hidden Immunity Idols, and how shocked (on a scale of “0” to “Red Wedding” from “Game of Thrones”) they were about Sarah getting eliminated. Rob and Nicole also discuss the hot topic “Chaos Kass,” including her chances to win the game and whether she’d return for an “All-Star” season. Mr. and Mrs. Cesternino also talk about the idea of swearing on family members or badges, whether Trish is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the “spyshack,” the importance of “big moves,” and whether we are about to see a Pagonging. They name players who could come back for “All-Stars”: Tony is a lock, Spencer and Sarah are likely, Kass and LJ are maybes, and Morgan looks the part but needs to do something in the game.
Rob and Nicole also make new winner picks, since their respective original picks, Sarah and Garrett, are now out of the game. Nicole picks LJ, and Rob thinks Tony is the next most likely to win. They also talk about how current Survivors should be grateful they are allowed to be on Twitter, and they should scale things back. Rob also shares an out of context inappropriate comment from Spencer: “You wanna pull it out?”
Rob’s staffers had to do double-duty for the Social Media segment, as Sarah’s exit interviews with Rob and Parvati Shallow set Tony off on Twitter. Tony was upset that it was implied that he dishonored his badge, when Sarah was trying to get him out. Garrett and Kass also got into it on Twitter, and Tasha and Spencer also commented on Kass’ bad move. Tasha said she and Spencer were the only two Brains in the game, while Brice chimed in to say that he and Morgan were the only two Beauties in the game. Rob also shares tweets from Vytas, Penner, Eliza, and Corinne.
Rob is excited to announce that Mr. Survivor himself, Malcolm Freberg, will be the podcast guest next week. Nicole says that Rob needs to remind Malcolm to uphold his promise to Instagram his Mr. Survivor belt.
As recapped by: @RHAPrecapper
